Return to Fresh Pond RR and running confidence

After 2 days of complete sloth (aka too much food), I was so ready to run hardish today at the Fresh Pond series race. This is a nice little race I did all through last winter. It is free, small and low pressure. I always win it, so yes, it is not competitive:) I had no idea what to expect today mostly because I only did one real speed and tempo work, all this week, so I probably did not benefit from those at this race. After having gotten only 4 hours of sleep on Thursday night (by choice!), I collapsed @ 9:55 pm last night and slept until 8am when Petru walked me up in typical fashion, by screaming in my ear: "It's 8am mommy, you have to wake up" (I love that he wakes up and entertains himself while his parents sleep in...raised him well, LOL). After my typical oatmeal and coffee (which I ate 1.5 hours before the start of the race, which I would never do for a 'real' race), I ran 4.5 miles to the race. Got there @ 9:55 for the 10:00am start. The weather was gorgeous, high 50s, sunny, with a nice breeze. I checked out the field and did not see any of my winter peeps. One woman looked really fast -from the back I thought she was a guy, bc she was boy skinny and had very short hair, and she indeed passed me @ 2.0 mile, but she did the 2.5 mile race not the 5 miler.

We started on the "go" and I fell into a nice rhythm. I really did not know what I could do and frankly did not want to push myself all out. I though HM pace would be nice but I ended up going slightly faster. The first loop was controlled. The second hurt. My legs lost power, which makes sense because aside from this week, I have not run this pace since Baystate training. I ended up with a 30:26, which is my Fresh Pond PR. The course registered as 4:65, for a 6:32 pace, which makes me super happy at this point in time. Nice effort considering that I ran the second loop all by myself (I was first overall men and women - guess the fast guys stayed at home today!).

This is how the course looks like...and also what one has to zig zag around....today I had to jump over an off leash little guy (this would piss me off in a real race, but here, well, dogs are just part of the course)

IMAG1128">
IMAG1110">

On my run back home I did 3x15 secs and 3x30 secs hill sprints, and thought a lot about running and racing. I can say I am a confident person in the main aspects of my life: family and work. My confidence in these areas is mostly stable. However, when I don't race for a while, I get really intimidated by paces that I used to be able to hit, or that I would like to hit. Sure, I can reframe those thoughts but there is nothing like a little behavioral experiment (aka race) to get that confidence back up. I think part of the reason why I had such a great 2011, is that I had these confidence boosts often. Sure, there was a physiological effect there too, but the mental boost was what helped the most, I think.

So here I am, 20 weeks from Boston, getting a little confidence boost from the good old Fresh Pond! So happy I raced today and so excited to get back out there this training cycle!

Running, racing, a great podcast and running music ideas

Running:

Really good running week for me. I feel pretty good about my short distance speed and about my endurance. I've surprised myself with some pretty awesome running which felt easy for the pace I was at. Sweet. I am constantly worrying about not slowing myself down enough, but if I go by effort, I am where I need to be. I ran 65 miles this week, including a 20 miler broken down into a 16 miler in the morning fastish, and a 4 miler in the afternoon slowish. My feet felt the mileage increase as I hopped out of bed this morning. I think my body is pretty resilient, but my feet have been my weak link for the past year. I've managed to keep things at bay, and will just have to continue doing so, hoping that they will toughen up. I have really skinny boney, no padding type feet, probably not the best for running, but what can you do? I also managed to get my first arch blister - no idea how it happened as I did not wear new shoes or socks - and it hurt like a mother!

Next week I will drop my mileage to 55 to give my body a break, as I have been building mileage for the past 3 weeks. I plan to get a swim in, and maybe even some biking. The weather is gorgeous in MA, and I am hoping to be able to continue running in shorts for a while.

Racing:

With so many friends racing, I got a bit of a case of FOMO this past week, ha! I managed to restrain myself from registering for a race, but am considering a Fresh Pond baseline race this Saturday, if we are around (plans still in the air). I managed to walk slowly away from the computer and distract myself when I was getting really close to signing up for a 5K. I can't just go race one and training for one now does not fit my long term plan. Still, no guarantees that I will not just go do one before January.

A great podcast

I am getting into the ultrarruner podcast with Tim Waggoner (Lucho at jog hard). Great info for runners, very laid back and cool guy, super knowledgeable and NOT boring! Check him out:)

Music

I am bored with my running music. What's good on your playlist?

Pictures, running and bribery works!

I rarely post pictures on this blog, mostly because it is a PITA to download them and upload them on the blog. I don't use any of those fancy blogger programs, so I do everything manually and it takes time. But I like blogs with pictures, and so I decided to see about putting more pictures on mine. I am also flirting with the idea of a photo blog to document my training/life during Boston training. Anyone knows how to email pictures from an iPhone directly to the blog?

These are pictures taken on the Reservoir Trail which is about half a mile form my house. It goes around the Arlington Reservoir, and is about 1 mile long. I have been doing most of my runs here lately, as I recover from Baystate, and absolutely love it.

#####

Running is going well. I will finish this week with 60 miles, mostly easy. I did have some fun at the track with some super fast (for me) 30 and 45 secs repeats. And today I ran 14 hard and hilly (and fast, for me) miles in the morning, and 4 slug miles on trails in the afternoon. I am loving doubles, by the way. I know that running 14 +4 is not the same as running 18, but for me right now this is a safer way to build mileage back up, and also much easier mentally.

On a different but related note, I found out that I was not the only parent who got a call that her kid was misbehaving at chess. On Thursday evening ALL the parents who normally take off, were sitting nicely on chairs observing their kids. I ended up going for a run because I had talked to the teacher about my bribery plan with Petru, and we both agreed to give it a shot. It worked! Petru was an angel. As soon as we got there he placed himself 2 sits away from this little girl who apparently got him in trouble last week by kissing and hugging him to much. "I had to tickle her mom, she would not stop". Oh, how things will change in a few years.

Good luck to all the 5K racers this weekend. Run HARD, the pain is short lived:)

A little bit of this...

I finished last week with 55 miles on good legs! I had my first taste of speed after 2 week of very easy running, and realized once again that running easy all the time does not fulfill me nearly as much as running fast. Right now I am focusing on building mileage a bit and running mostly general aerobic (7:43-8:05 on 3 runs when I have my Garmin with me) or just super easy, with a lot of hills and fartleks here and there. I am keeping my schedule open and am doing pretty much what I feel like doing, changing my mind and not putting any pressure on myself. I will be mostly resting and building with no actual races for a while.

I watched the New York City Marathon on Sunday and was very touched by the story of Mutai and the kennian runners. Pretty sure the kennian supremacy has a lot to do with the lifestyle, communal type training, and poverty. When you race for your entire village and not only for yourself, you can train and race at a different level. Obviously, things are not as simple as this, but I do believe that all this emphasis on the best supplements, coaches, recovery this and that does not appear to be the way to success. Yet, of course, I am, too, buying into all of these, ha!

Training plan is almost done, on paper. In reality, things will most likely be very different, bc, hey, I know myself enough to be realistic about my tendency to run what my schedule says based on how I feel.

In other news the chess teacher called me saying that Petru was all over the place last Thursday during class (I have a little clown on my hands) while I was running, and it might be better if I stayed and observed. Grr! Since I need to get that second run in, I now have a deal with Petru that if he has 5 chess classes in a row with good behavior (per teacher), he gets a little treat or 10 kindness cubes toward our Coco Key Water Resort family reward (which he picked) this winter (we need 100 kindness cubes for that). Oh, the things that I do to get that second run in. Wish me luck!

Super excited for 3 speedy friends racing this weekend. Go, go, go!

My first double, finding my legs and Lucy's 12th birthday!

Since my marathon almost 3 weeks ago, my body has felt wonky. The soreness was gone after a few days, but my R leg (hip) and my back (R side) have felt tight and off. I managed to lift my R leg about half the distance I could lift my L leg. Grr! After sitting, my entire leg would have shooting pains. Double grrr! Even sitting on the toilet, darn it, was uncomfortable! I had no discomfort running, though, and I slugged along on short runs, knowing that my body needed more time to recover.

Since I am planning on running doubles during Boston training, I decided to try and see how a double would fit into my Thursday schedule. I ran 8 easy miles in the morning with 8x30 secs sprints, and then ran again in the evening, 4 miles, while Petru had chess class at the Library. It felt wonderful to run a few fast intervals in the morning, and my legs loved that. In the afternoon, my legs did not want to slow, which was the plan. All the discomfort is now miraculously gone, and my R side of my body and I are friends again. Welcome back, legs!

So what do I have to say about running doubles? Thumbs up! The only con? Having to take 2 showers (though if I did not have to work, I would only take 1).

+++++

I don't do much advertising on this blog, but I could not resists telling you that "Lucy" is having a birthday sale (25% off) on Saturday all day. If you don't know about Lucy, you should. I first learned about them last year, when I read about the birthday sale on a running blog. I checked out the sale and purchased one pair of running tights (propel tights) which are my favorite by far. They are very similar to Lulu (e.g., flattering waist band, thicker material with a bit of compression) but less expensive (about half with the birthday sale discount). I now own 2 pairs of the Propel tights, and can attest that have been holding off wonderfully for about a year now. Check them out! You'll thank me later:)

Running, training plans, doubles, oh, my!

I spent this past week reading, researching and playing with excel, trying to create my training plan for Boston, starting next week. No, I will not start training per se on Monday. Rather, I will be getting my body completely recovered and ready to train when the time comes. This requires planning, too.

So what I am doing differently this time?

1. More miles. Since 2009 when I ran my first marathon peaking at 30 miles (don't laugh, I ran a 3:44 Boston then!), I increased my running frequency and mileage with each training cycle. This worked well for me, and I believe a slow progression over the years is the way to go in terms of improving year to year and staying healthy. With A LOT of luck, I managed to stay injury free and PR most of my races. During my last training cycle I had one peak week @ 80 miles. This time I will see if I can go to 90 miles during 3 of my training weeks. In order to do this, and because I want to have one non running day/week, I will need to do doubles. I am a bit excited about doubles. Aside from a 20 miler gone bad, where I stopped at 15 and ran 5 later, I have never run twice a day before. I don't know how my body will handle that, and I am wiling to give the second run up if I need to. The second run will always be recovery (aka slug pace) and will follow a key workout. I will try doing a recovery run after my long run, if I can pull this off with my family's schedule (actually, training for a marathon even when running 90 miles/week will be overall less time consuming than HIM training; Chris is doing the happy dance in the background, LOL).

2. More races. Last winter I had a ball racing Fresh Pond almost every weekend. I am excited to go back. Also, I am considering 2 HMs, Hampton and Quincy, Derry 16 miler which I will not race all out (since it is in January and a tough course), Eastern States 20 miler (though I might skip it since it is flat), and maybe the Ras Ha Nhereim 5K in March (even though I will not be in 5K shape). Boston will be my A race, so I don't expect the PRs I had last year, but they might actually happen. I am also prepared to "not race" a lot of these races, if I feel too tired or burned out:)

3. Hills and plyos and pilates. Obviously I need to do hills for Boston. I do not dislike hills, and I have plenty around (I live in Arlington HEIGHTS, people). I think my problem with incorporating hills in my training has a lot to do with the fact that I slow down on hills (of course) and my average pace ends up slower. Of course. This time around, though, I will not allow myself to avoid hills due to such a silly reason. I don't plan on doing any strength training rather than pilates and ploys and hills, which are not strength per se, but I believe they will make me stronger and more efficient. Maybe I'll lift a dumbbell or to, to get my arms stronger, but maybe not.

So all this schedule making and planning made me appreciate how nice it may be to have a coach. And how hard coaches work. I do think that it is easier to create a plan for someone else than for yourself - at least it would be for me. Anyhow, all coaches out there, hats off to you all!

In other news the back pain I acquired last week is almost gone. I am still not 100% recovered after Baystate. My R leg/hamstring is still stiff and has decreased range of motion compared to the L. Hopefully a few more weeks of easy, mostly trail running, hot baths and streching/rolling will make them feel better. If not, I plan on being patient.

******

Just a little disclaimer here. This is the training that I think will work for ME. It may not work for YOU. It may injure YOU. Hire a coach, be patient, read and think about what is going to work for YOU based on where you are now, your running background and injury history.

Back to life, bullet point style

#Ah, life after the marathon! First week post marathon I was all excited about sleeping in, running less, being unscheduled and free to bounce around. By Thursday all the soreness was gone and I found myself lethargic and unmotivated to get things done. Some people are very good at resting, I am not one of those people. I am the prototype of the "if you want something done give it to a busy person" saying!

# Chris and I went to New Hampshire for an overnight to celebrate his birthday. We did an 8 mile run/hike up to Mt Chicoura and had a blast. I've done this hike before, and it is not easy; you go up and up and the last mile you climb on rocks. Yet, I have never felt stronger. Being the type A that I am, I insisted on carrying the backpack the entire way, and managed to get a back strain, which really only means that I have a weak core. No wonder, I have not done any abs since I don't even remember. Hence..

# I started doing Pilates. I have a 20 min Winsor pilates tape that Chris does daily. I did it this morning and I can already feel muscles that I did not think I had.

# I am somewhat back to running more mileage, all easy, all on trails. The weather is gorgeous and it feels so good to be outside and run.

# I am also working my training plan in my head and have a bit of a vision of what I want to do for Boston. More quantity, more quality, the usual! I have a bitter taste in my mouth from my 2010 race there, and would love to smash it with a sub 3:10. I think I can do that but it will not be easy on that course. I have some fast ladies to virtually train with, which makes me even more excited about working hard! Anyone in the Boston area who wants to run long with me?